India today is moving towards being a major economic power, but it is difficult to believe it, if one looks at the dirt and the stench at our railway stations. Major railways stations in Europe, for example, are as good as international airports or even better. Besides the facilities available to the passengers and the cleanliness, they also have major shopping arcades and restaurants. It’s time the railway ministry thought of handing over the development and management of our railway stations to private players and earned some revenue from it too, through shopping malls.

I am glad the railway minister in his budget speech on July 6 talked of a cleanliness drive and also the development of a coach toilet discharge system along the lines of toilets in aircraft. At present, the discharge is directly on the tracks. So the entire railway network including the stations is like an open toilet. The earlier the stink from the tracks and the stations is cleared, the better.

Similarly, the trains should be kept scrupulously clean at all times and the availability of water ensured. How can one expect cleanliness in toilets if there is no supply of water? Only last year, the consumer court upheld the award of Rs 10,000 as compensation to Yashwant Tiwari for the suffering undergone by him and his family for lack of water in the toilet. Apparently, a water pipe connected to the coach had broken and this was not mended despite repeated complaints and reminders. The District Forum, which heard the tribulations of the passenger, thought that Rs 55,000 would be adequate compensation. The State Commission however reduced the amount to Rs 10,000. The fact that the railways’ revision petition before the apex consumer court was turned down should come as a warning to the railways not to take these issues lightly. (RP No 1065 of 2002).

The Pohares’ experience was even worse. The couple which was travelling from Kurla to Akola, found the toilets to be really dirty. On their complaint, the assistant station master (ASM) sent a sweeper to clean the coach as well as the toilets. But apparently, the guard on duty objected to it and asked the sweeper to leave. The Pohares and other passengers protested and said they would not allow the train to leave till the cleaning work was done. Since the guard was unrelenting, the ASM assured the passengers that he would send a message to the ASM in Kalyan to have the toilets cleaned. The train then moved on and early next morning, at Igatpuri station, the guard got the police to force the couple off the train. They had to eventually take another train the next morning to reach their destination (appeal no. 77 of 1995). The Maharashtras State Commission asked the railways to refund their travel expenditure and pay, in addition, Rs 5,000 as compensation.

In the initial years, the compensation awarded by these courts was small, but not today. So the earlier the railways paid more attention to cleanliness, the better. It’s good the railway minister spoke of various measures in this direction, but one wants to see these translated into action.